The buyer of Cal Ripken Jr.’s 25-acre estate in Reisterstown, Maryland, is someone with whom Ripken is quite familiar.

Adam Jones, who is a real-estate enthusiast as well as the Baltimore Orioles’ center fielder, found a deal too good to pass up.

Jones bought Ripken’s home at auction for a fraction of its original listing price of $12.5 million, according to sources. But the transaction, which is not yet final, will have no bearing on Jones’ future in Baltimore.

While Jones, 32, is a free agent at the end of the season, he bought the Ripken estate mainly as an investment, not because he is on the verge of signing with the Orioles long-term, sources said.

Jones, who is in the final year of a six-year, $85.5 million contract, also buys and sells homes for investment purposes in other cities.

Neither the identity of the buyer nor the price of Ripken’s home initially was revealed, and the price remains undisclosed. The home was first...